BTS Breaks Down 9 Years of Resilience in Their New Song "Run BTS"

BTS's "Proof" anthology album is finally here, having hit shelves and streaming platforms on June 10. The three-disc album is comprised of 48 tracks spanning BTS's epic nine-year career. While the release doesn't include as much new material as fans have grown accustomed to with most new BTS albums, the release's paired-down offering of three original songs has allowed fans to dig deeper into the lyrics than ever before. So, in between streaming the lead single "Yet to Come" on loop, the group's devoted ARMY is analyzing "Run BTS" and "For Youth" as well.

Fans are losing their minds over "Run BTS" (not to be confused with their variety show of the same name) in particular, not only because it's an up-tempo, rock/hip-hop hybrid track they can dance to, but also because its lyrics — which are a mix of Korean and English — reflect on BTS's early days coming up as a group and running toward success, never losing their drive. Check out the English lyric translation of "Run BTS" (via Genius) ahead, and read on to learn more about the message behind the lyrics.

INTRO (SUGA)
Yeah, yeah
Okay
Run, run (Oh-oh-oh-oh)
Okay, okay, let's go!

VERSE 1 (Jungkook, V, SUGA)
Nonhyeon, 100m, our place
A call from the company after school (Yes, yes)
Ah, I'm coming right now
Please don't send me home
(Oh) Sometimes I dream of that day (Dream)
(Oh) I shivering and then open my eyes (Open my eyes)
I don't wanna go, go back again
Let's go, let's go, let's go

PRE-CHORUS (Jungkook, Jimin, V)
For ten years, wait, wait
We from the bottom
I caught you bae, bae
We're a bit fast
We seven mate, mates
Look carеfully, we got us
Tell me what you wanna
Tеll me what you wanna, woah
If we live fast, let us die young

CHORUS
Not losing our spirit
Make it move, left and right
No matter who you are
Make it move, left and right
Two bare feet are our gasoline, yeah, yeah
Let's go, are you ready? Yeah, yeah
*Okay, let's go!*

POST-CHORUS (J-Hope)
Run bulletproof, run, yeah, you gotta run (Run, run)
Run bulletproof, run, yeah, you gotta run (Run, run)
Run bulletproof, run, yeah, you gotta run (Run, run)
Run bulletproof, run

VERSE 2 (SUGA)
Okay, okay, let's go
I was right, in the rain-leaking studio in Nonhyeon-dong
Opening a bottle of soju and talking about my hardships
If we succeed in the words that we've promised, everybody is dead
The reason behind Bangtan's success? I don't know if there's something like that
All of us just run hard
No matter what, we just run
That's the answer, ha-ha-ha

VERSE 3 (RM)
(Okay)
Comfort, got them (Got them)
Principles, got them (Got them)
Good music, got them (Got them)
Good team? Goddamn! (Oh, yeah)
You said you hot (You hot)
Oh man, you not (You not)
Above the ones who run, above the ones who flies
Run Bangtan, let's go

PRE-CHORUS (Jungkook, Jin, V)
For ten years, wait, wait
We from the bottom
I caught you bae, bae
We're a bit fast
We seven mate, mates
Look, we got us
Tell me what you wanna
Tell me what you wanna, woah
If we live fast, let us die young

CHORUS
Not losing our spirit
Make it move, left and right
No matter who you are
Make it move, left and right
Two bare feet are our gasoline, yeah, yeah
Let's go, are you ready? Yeah, yeah
*Let's go!*

POST-CHORUS (SUGA)
Run bulletproof, run, yeah, you gotta run (Run, run)
Run bulletproof, run, yeah, you gotta run (Run, run)
Run bulletproof, run, yeah, you gotta run (Run, run)
Run bulletproof, run (Run, run)

BRIDGE (J-Hope, V, Jimin)
Skrrt
With the ignorant faith
Just run, with your two legs
That's how we do it all (Ayy, ayy)
That's how we've proved it
The seven runners
With a million dollars (Ayyy, ayy)
Jiminie, V, hard work
Namjoonie, Hope, hard work
Yoongi hyung, Jjin, hard work
Jungkookie, everyone so thanks
Get ready, get ready, get ready, get ready, get ready, there's more in the future
Go get it, go get it, go get it, go get it, run, run
If we live fast, let us die young

CHORUS
Not losing our spirit
Make it move, left and right
No matter who you are
Make it move, left and right
Two bare feet are our gasoline, yeah, yeah
Let's go, are you ready? Yeah, yeah
Yeah
(Yeah)

POST-CHORUS (RM)
Run beautiful, run, yeah you gotta run (Run)
Run beautiful, run, yeah you gotta run (Run)
Run beautiful, run, yeah you gotta run (Run)
Run beautiful, run

BTS members RM, J-Hope, Jungkook, and SUGA participated in the writing process for "Run BTS," which is why the message behind the song feels so personal and ties perfectly into the album's overall theme of reflecting over the group's nearly-decade-long career.

The song kicks off with SUGA and Jungkook singing, "Nonhyeon, 100m, our place / A call from the company after school (Yes, yes) / Ah, I'm coming right now / Please don't send me home," a clear call back to BTS's humble pre-debut days when they lived in a tiny dorm together in Nonhyeon-dong working long and hard hours preparing for their debut. The opening line also establishes the constant worries the members felt over their uncertain futures (obviously completely clueless to the fact they were about to become the biggest band in the world).

In the pre-chorus, Jungkook, Jimin, and V sing, "We from the bottom / I caught you bae, bae / We're a bit fast, We seven mate, mates / Look carefully, we got us." These lyrics seem to reflect how the members of BTS turned to one another as they experienced ups and downs climbing from the bottom of a saturated musical landscape toward success at breakneck speed. Despite what naysayers said ("Tell me what you wanna," they sing), the members were always there for one another, encouraging one another to push on.

Ultimately, "Run BTS"'s lyrical throughline centers on BTS's determination to never lose their spirit and avoid negativity (no matter how naive or foolish they may seem to outsiders) with lines like, "Not losing our spirit," "Run bulletproof, run, yeah, you gotta run," and "With the ignorant faith, just run, with your two legs."

After nine years, BTS has yet to lose the spirit they cultivated in that tiny dorm in Nonhyeon-dong, and as the lyrics of "Run BTS" say, they'll continue to run resiliently forward past any hurdles — like they're bulletproof.